Projects

The following instructions are for meaking a large, light-weight stuffsack, suitable for use as a food bag, and strong enough to be hung by the drawstring as a bear-bag. The finished product described here is sized to hold one 12x20 OPSAK, but it can be made in any size to suit your needs. In addition the seams can be sealed with a silicone sealer to make it waterproof.

Materials required:

• 1 yard of 1.1 oz Silnylon (with 1 yard of 60" wide fabric you can make 2 stuffsacks)
• 1.5 inches of 1-inch wide grosgrain tape
• 1 yard of 1/8" draw cord - 1 tiny cord lock, appropriately sized for the draw cord
• High-quality polyester thread (I use a Tex 40 weight)
• 1/4" grommet

Tools required:

• Sewing scissors
• Felt-tipped pen
• Grommet setting tool
• Hammer
• Lighter

Instructions:

Notes: Click on the thumbnails to see a larger version of each photo. Start and end every line of stitching with a backstitch.

1. Cut a rectangular piece of the Silnylon fabric 24-1/4" (Side A) x 27-1/4" (Side B).
   
2. Fold the fabric in half, wrong sides out, matching-up the two A sides. You should now have a rectangle that is 24-1/4" x 13-3/4". Pin the A sides together (no more than 1/4" from the edge) and stitch, 3/8" from the edge, forming a tube.
   
3. Rotate the fabric such that the seam is in the middle of the tube pointing up, with the tube laid flat. Lay the seam flat to one side and top stitch it down, 1/4" from the first stitch.
   
4. With the tube still laid flat and seam in the middle, stitch across the bottom of the tube, 3/8" from the edge. This will form the bottom of the stuffsack.
   
5. Fold the bottom of the tube 3/8", then 3/8" again and pin in place. Stitch through all of the folded layers across the bottom of the stuffsack, 1/4" from the outside edge.
   
6. Singe the edges of the grosgrain tape with the lighter to prevent fraying.
7. Flip the stuffsack over such that the side seam is facing down against the table. Match one end of the grosgrain tape to the top edge of the stuffsack, in the center opposite of the side seam and pin down. Stitch the grosgrain tape in place down it's length, 1/8" from each side.
   
8. Fold the edge of the opening over 3/8" of an inch and stitch down 1/4" from the edge to form a hem.
   
9. Using the felt-tipped pen, mark a dot on the silnylon fabric on the opposite side of the grosgrain tape. The dot should be placed 1-1/2" from the top edge of the stuffsack, and centered between the grosgrain tape stitches.
   
10. Using the sewing scissors (or a seam ripper), cut a small X at the place where you marked the dot, going through both the silnylon and grosgrain tape. Push the first half (smaller diameter side) of the grommet through the hole from the silnylon side. Using the lighter, lightly singe the edges of the fabric around the hole where the grommet comes through on the grosgrain tape side. Put the second half (larger diameter side) of the grommet in place on the grosgrain tape side and set in place using the hammer and grommet setting tool.
    
11. Fold the edge of the stuffsack opening over 1" and stitch down 1/8" from the inside edge of the fold. Be careful to not hit the grommet with the sewing machine needle. This will form the drawstring tube.
    
12. Turn the stuffsack right-side out. Thread the draw cord through the grommet and drawstring tube. Install the cordlock, trim the draw cord to the desired length, singe the ends with the lighter, and tie the ends together in a knot.

To round-out your bear bag system, be sure to check-out this great article: Assembing an Ultralight Bear Bag System.

Do you have suggestions as to how this stuff sack could be made better? Please let me know in the commments.

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All of photos for this project were taken by seven year-old daughter Brienne (a budding photographer) using mommys Nikon D300 camera.

Thanks Brienne!

For the past few months we have been working towards eliminating the use of plastic for food storage. For some reason, the thought of potentially harmful chemicals leaching into our food doesn't hold much appeal for us.

Just recently I had the idea to use our backpacking kitchenware - pots, mugs, bowls, etc. - as storage containers for the fridge. Since they are not in use when we are at home, giving them a new task to do means we need less storage space for our outdoor gear. It also means that we can get rid of some other containers in the kitchen that we would normally have used for that task. I love having the opportunity to use items for multiple purposes, this is a fundemental principle of lightweight backpacking, why not extend it to the home as well for simpler living?

A side benefit of this idea is that it helps to justify the cost of purchasing higher quality backpacking gear. Titanium kitchenware, while durable and light-weight is more expensive than its steel and aluminum counterparts. Making the gear play a role at home as well as in the backcountry can make those higher prices seem more reasonable since the gear gets more frequent usage.

Titanium is a great material for the task of food storage. It doesn't contain nickel (which some people are allergic to) and is immune to corrosion. It is considered completey biocompatible and is therefore the material of choice for use in hypoallergenic jewelery, medical tools, and medical implants.

One example of a container perfectly suited to home food storage and backcountry use is the Snow Peak titanium bowl. They are a great price at $16 each and have a volume of just under 2-1/2 cups. Other containers that can be used include mugs and pots - pretty much anything that can reliably hold liquid.

Most outdoor mugs and bowls don't come with any sort of lid so I improvised a solution using a resource that all backpackers are intimately familiar with: Ziploc bags. Backpackers are no stranger to Ziploc bags. We like to reuse ours but no matter how carefully we clean them, the bags eventually wear out. I designed a sewing pattern using old Ziploc bags to create elasticized lid custom fit for each bowl/mug/pot that we own. This pattern will work just about any polythylene food-grade bag (i.e. Aloksak etc.) and is a great way to keep some plastic out of landfills a little longer.

The instructions for making your own lids are as follows:

Equipment and materials required:

• The container you want to cover (of course!)
• A sewing machine
• Used Ziploc, Aloksak, or other polyethylene bags
• Marking pen (i.e. Sharpie or similar)
• Polyester thread
• 1 mm round elastic cord (pick it up at any fabric store)
• Small safety pin

Instructions:

1. Trace the outline of the container on the outside of a bag using the marker. Make sure that there is at least a 1/2 inch of plastic beyond the edge of the traced line.
   
2. Using the sewing machine and your polyester thread, stitch a circle 1 cm (3/8 inch) outside of the line you just traced. You will be stitching through both sides of the plastic bag. Don't close the circle completely, leave about a 1/2 inch wide gap between the start and the end of the stitch. Make sure you backstitch at the beginning and end of the stitch to prevent it from coming undone.
   
3. Stitch another circle 1 cm (3/8 inch) outside of the first one you just completed. This time completely close the cirlcle. Again, backstitch at the beginning and the end of the stitch. When you are done, you should have three concentric circles: The inner one is the pen marking, the next one is the circle with the 1/2 inch gap, and the third one is the outer circle that goes completely around.
   
4. Cut the the plastic away from the outer-most circle, leaving about 1/8 inch of plastic around the outside of the stitching. You should now have a plastic disc.
   
5. Grab both layers of the disk from the middle and pull them apart.
   
6. Poke a hole through only one side of the middle and cut it out, leaving about 1/8 inch of plastic from the inner stitched circle. You should now have a round piece of plastic with a single layer in the middle and a double layer ring around the outside.
   
7. Tie the end of the elastic cord to the safety pin. Feed the pin into the outer ring, through the gap that was left in the stitching. Thread the elastic all the way around the outer ring and all the way back out of the hole. When you are done you should have the elastic threaded through the outer ring and both ends sticking out of the hole in the stitching.
   
8. Pull both ends of the elastic until your plastic disk looks like a shower cap. It should be small enough to tightly stretch over the container. Once you have the size right, knot the two ends of the elastic together and cut off the excess. The knot should pull back into the hole. You may have to shift the plastic around so that it isn't excessively bunched in any specific area (you will know what I mean when you see it!).
   

Voila! You should now have a perfectly fitted plastic lid for your container...

and a shower cap for your American Girl doll...

Note: I am not as concerned about plastic being used for the lid. I figure that since the food will mostly be in contact with the container rather than the lid, everything should be fine.

For the last few weeks I have been in sewing mode and loving every minute of it. According to Renee, she wouldn't have thought I liked it so much based on all the mutterings she hears emanating from the sewing room. I guess I am rather vocal when I hit a little snag. Despite the small frustrations that happen along the way (an integral part to the learning process), I find sewing to be incredibly satisfying. It is the combination of art/creativity, engineering, math, and precision that I like so much, not to mention the fact that the end result is something that is necessary and useful.

Being a computer programmer by trade, much of what I do on a daily basis is both foreign and unseen by most people. I like to think of software engineering as poetry - it is a very creative process for me. The problem is that the art of software engineering is often unseen and not understood by the majority of people. My family largely has no idea what exactly it is I do to pay the bills. I am finding that sewing is a way for me to express myself in a way that is visible, appreciated, and understood by my family and others around me. Not to mention the fact that there are many practical reasons for learning to sew as well.

My three most recent projects are:

A Winter Coat for Celine: A few months ago Celine saw a pattern for a coat that she really liked. The pattern was relatively simple and could be made out of fleece so she decided that she wanted to try to make it (with my help). We ordered the pattern and the fabric and soon discovered that it was too much for her to handle so I offered to finish it for her (much to her relief). I learned a lot through the process and I am very happy with how it turned out. Celine loves it, it is now her favorite coat.

Pattern: Jalie Stretch City Coat
Fabric: Polartec 300 Fleece

A Pair of Yoga Pants for Renee: We like to keep the heat turned down during the winter months to conserve energy and minimize the bills. We compensate by putting on a few extra layers of clothing. Renee's biggest beef with this is that wearing extra layers usually means her having to wear clothes that are less figure-flattering. One solution I decided to try was to make her a pair of slim-fitting pants out of a thermal fabric. I found a pattern for some yoga pants and decided to try making them out of Polartec Wind Pro, a very warm, stretchy, and wind-resistant fabric. The end result was again very good.

Pattern: Jalie Yoga Pants
Fabric: Polartec Wind Pro

A Soft-Shell Jacket for Laurent: The boy is growing-up. A few weeks ago he put on his fleece jacket and what was once big and baggy on him (wasn't that just yesterday?) is now too small. A staple for our fall/winter hiking is a soft-shell jacket. It is difficult to find anything like this for kids, so I decided to try my hand at making one for him. I found a pattern for a hooded fleece jacket, ordered some Polartec Power Shield fabric and gave it a shot. Again, the result was very successful (this is getting addicting!).

Pattern: The Green Pepper Polar Jacket
Fabric: Polartec Power Shield

Are you getting inspired yet? Looking for a new project?

Time for a Giveaway!

It so happens that in my frenzy of online ordering, I accidentally purchased a pattern twice. Rather than send it back, I have decided to give away the extra pattern to one of you. The pattern is for The Green Pepper Sandpiper Wind & Rain Suit for kids (the same pattern I used for Brienne's windbreaker). All you have to do is leave a comment and you will automatically be entered in the draw. The draw will be made in one week, on Sunday December 13th, and the winner's name announced at the end of this post. Good luck!

Update (12/14/2009): I just wanted to post a note of congratulations to Jim White, the winner of the pattern giveaway! Good luck with your sewing adventures, and I hope you will share the results of your projects with us one day! Thanks to all the rest of you who participated. Please continue to check back with the blog, we have more great post ideas as well as some additional giveaways planned for the new year.